According to federal Bureau of Labor Statistics figures, the only people whose livelihood is more likely to end in death are fishermen, loggers and airplane pilots.

There are commonalities among careers with the highest risk, such as the uncertainty of weather and dependence upon machinery that can break down in inconvenient places at inconvenient times. In some of the careers, long work days further increase risk as fatigue sets in. Farmers often work alone.

The inherent danger in growing food was tragically brought home Aug. 30 by the death of Peter Santini at his Harmony Township farm. The 50-year-old was a lifelong farmer, an expert at fixing machinery and owner of a trucking business.

On that day he was working with his 87-year-old father on chopping corn into silage for the family’s cows. It’s a common job on dairy farms in late summer, one the Santinis knew well.

In this case, no one knows what went wrong; father Frank Santini left briefly to get his son some food and found his son caught in the corn chopper when he returned. It’s believed that Peter was trying to fix the machine when he was entrapped.

Farming is a hard way to make a living. The hours are long, the investment large, the yearly outcome uncertain. Farmers daily battle the elements, pests, weeds and disease.
In order to succeed, these entrepreneurs master a long list of trades and skills, including some others on the “most dangerous” list.

The men and women who choose farming usually say they stick with it because they love the land, and providing for its inhabitants. When they complain, it’s most often about the weather or low prices for their products, not the dangers that come with nature, big machinery or large animals.